- Republicans Announce Rescheduled Pam Bondi Testimony in Epstein Probe After Democrats File Contempt Charges
Source: Time
“Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will testify next month in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Republicans on the panel announced Wednesday, shortly after Democrats moved to hold her in contempt following her failure to appear for a previously scheduled deposition. Republican lawmakers on the panel said Bondi will give testimony on May 29, calling Democrats’ filing of a civil contempt resolution ‘theater and completely unnecessary.’ … Bondi has faced widespread criticism and controversy over the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files under her leadership. The department was required to release all its files related to the disgraced financier by Dec. 19 under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed by Congress in November and signed into law by Trump soon afterward. But the DOJ failed to meet that deadline, prompting outcry from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and survivors of Epstein’s abuse.” (04/29/26)
https://time.com/article/2026/04/29/bondi-epstein-files-house-oversight-committee-deposition/
- US FDA Moves to Real-Time Clinical Trial Patient Monitoring, Faster Drug Review
Source: US News & World Report
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving to speed drug development and review by launching real-time clinical trials. The move could soon mean more options for patients who need life-saving medications. The agency announced Tuesday that it has completed the first tests of a system that allows FDA scientists to see safety and effectiveness data from patients as it is collected. This shift aims to turn the traditional, stop-and-go process of drug testing and reporting into a continuous stream of live data.” (04/29/26)
- CA: America’s most volatile fault line overdue for earthquake that could devastate millions
Source: New York Post
“This has scientists quaking in their boots. Researchers have found that one of the US’s most dangerous fault lines is overdue for an earthquake, potentially threatening millions of people across California, per an alarming study in the journal Seismological Research Letters. This terrifying tremor could ’cause extensive damage to such a dense population zone,’ wrote the team from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), in a statement. Part of the massive San Andreas Fault Line, the Hayward Fault Line extends 74 miles through major Bay Area hubs, including Berkeley, Oakland and Fremont, an area that’s collectively home to around 8 million people. This fault is of particular concern as it regularly generates magnitude 7 Earthquakes — more powerful than the 1989 Loma Prieta quake that killed 63 people and injured 3,757 in the Bay Area.” (04/29/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/04/29/science/volatile-hayward-fault-line-overdue-for-an-earthquake/
- UK: Regime expels Russian diplomat in tit-for-tat
Source: ABC News
“The U.K. on Wednesday expelled a Russian diplomat in retaliation for Moscow’s recent expulsion of a British official and the smear campaign that followed. Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it summoned the Russian ambassador to its offices in London to inform him of the ‘reciprocal action.’ The tit-for tat moves reflect spiraling tensions between Moscow and the West. … Russia and NATO member states have carried out multiple rounds of mutual expulsions of diplomats since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, sending diplomatic relations to their lowest ebb since the Cold War.” (04/29/26)
- VA: Supreme Court leaves order temporarily blocking redistricting certification in place
Source: The Hill
“The Virginia Supreme Court will allow a lower court order temporarily blocking the commonwealth from certifying the results of a redistricting referendum to remain in place, dealing a blow to Democrats who sought to challenge the ruling. The high court on Tuesday denied a motion by Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D) to appeal last week’s ruling from a Tazewell County circuit court judge that found the referendum unconstitutional. Judge Jack Hurley Jr. sided with the Republican National Committee (RNC) in February in a lawsuit seeking to block the April 21 referendum, arguing against its timing and the phrasing of the ballot question. But the state Supreme Court stepped in and allowed it to continue, stating last month that while there were issues of ‘grave concern’ regarding the process undertaken by the Virginia General Assembly, it declined to offer an opinion on the matter.” (04/29/26)
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5854983-virginia-supreme-court-redistricting/
- MN: Two suspects indicted in assault of TPUSA reporter Savanah Hernandez outside gang lair
Source: New York Post
“A federal grand jury handed down indictments for two individuals connected to the assault on Turning Point USA reporter Savanah Hernandez at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Minneapolis earlier this month, Fox News Digital has learned. The suspects were indicted on Tuesday, federal sources told Fox News Digital, though their names have yet to be released. The sources said the indictment is expected to be unsealed later Wednesday. The incident happened on April 11 outside the Whipple Federal Building, where a protest was taking place over a local ICE field office that also serves as a detention facility. Video shows protesters swarming Hernandez, blowing horns in front of her face, yelling obscenities and waving adult novelty products in front of her, as she tries to cover herself and run away.” [editor’s note: Does any video show the alleged assault? – TLK] (04/29/26)
- Russia: Regime will not display military equipment at Victory Day parade due to Ukraine threat
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Russia’s traditional parade marking the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II will take place next week without tanks, missiles and other military equipment, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement. It will be the first time in nearly two decades – and in Russia’s 4-year-old war in Ukraine – that no military equipment will rumble through Moscow’s Red Square on May 9, the day Russia celebrates its most important secular holiday. The Kremlin has used it to showcase its military might and global clout, and it is a source of patriotic pride. … The ministry cited the ‘current operational situation’ as a reason for excluding military equipment, as well as cadets, from this year’s parade on the 81st anniversary of the victory. Ukraine has launched drone attacks deep inside Russia to counter Moscow’s more than 4-year-old invasion.” (04/29/26)
- North Korea: Kim praises troops who “self-blasted” to avoid capture by Ukraine
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Kim Jong Un has praised North Korean soldiers who killed themselves by detonating their grenades while fighting for Russia against Ukraine, confirming a long-suspected battlefield policy. In a speech this week, the North Korean leader said those who ‘unhesitatingly opted for self-blasting, suicide attack, in order to defend the great honour’ were ‘heroes.’ South Korea estimates at least 15,000 North Koreans have been sent to help Russia recapture parts of western Kursk, and more than 6,000 have been killed so far. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have confirmed the numbers. Intelligence agencies and defectors have said the soldiers were under Pyongyang’s orders to kill themselves rather than be taken prisoner by Ukraine.” (04/29/26)
- Former Fauci adviser indicted, accused of concealing Covid research communications
Source: Syracuse.com
“A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci was indicted on federal charges alleging he conspired to hide his communications related to COVID-19 research as the pandemic raged across the country, the Justice Department said Tuesday. Dr. David Morens, 78, is accused of using his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at the National Institutes of Health. The Justice Department alleges that he concealed or destroyed records of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an effort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.” (04/29/26)
- The Art of (Accepting) the (Face-Saving) Deal
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland“Iran has proposed opening the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic if President Donald Trump removes his naval blockade of Iranian ports and ends his war against that country, according to the news outlets of Axios and Associated Press, which quoted regional officials knowledgeable of talks between Iran and mediator Pakistan. Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program would be undertaken in a later phase of the agreement. Despite all the U.S. tactical successes in blowing things up in Iran, the Iranians have the conflict’s strategic trump card of a stranglehold on international maritime shipping, which has drastically increased prices on petroleum-based products and other vital commercial items for the entire world. Above all, Trump is under pressure from Republicans to get rid of this tar baby before the 2026 mid-term elections …. Trump needs a face-saving way out of this self-imposed mess, and the first step is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.” (04/29/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/29/art-accepting-face-saving-deal/
- Left, Right equal enemies of liberty
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“When the Left rules, they’ll tax you into the ground to fund their pet projects, regulate your speech, your guns, your business, your very thoughts, and call it compassion. When the Right has a turn, they’ll ramp up the surveillance, the wars, and the ‘law and order’ boot on your neck, all while waving a flag and quoting Scripture. Same result: your money, your time, your choices — stolen by someone with power. Only the propaganda differs.” (04/29/26)
- Ignoring Official Evil
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“Writers in the mainstream press are describing the assassination attempt against President Trump as evil. What they fail to realize, however, is that simply because the assassination attempt was evil doesn’t necessarily mean that the actions of President Trump and the U.S. national-security establishment that apparently motivated the would-be assassin are good. It is entirely possible to have evil on both sides. For example, what about the U.S. government’s official assassinations? How often does the mainstream press condemn those as evil? Hardly ever.” (04/29/26)
- Comey’s shell post may be crass, but charging him is a free speech trap
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley“In the last year, coverage of former FBI Director James Comey appears to be reverting to the level of a high school yearbook. Last March, we were discussing how Comey channeled Beyoncé in a classified meeting and then may have revealed a code name in an encore performance for family. Now we are back to discussing Comey’s beach shell art on social media. The latter controversy is now at the heart of a second criminal indictment of Comey. … The problem with this indictment will be the merits. The indictment concerns an image that was later removed by Comey showing ’86 47′ in shells on a beach.” (04/28/26)
- Iran killed any delusions of US military domination over China
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh“The United States has long relied on ground-based air defense systems to protect U.S. personnel, infrastructure, and assets from adversary missiles. But Iran was able to effectively disable these systems, suggesting that this approach to force protection is entirely insufficient in a world of “precise mass” where even weak adversaries have advanced targeting capabilities. If the U.S. ground-based air defense network could not survive against Iran, it is most certainly inadequate for a war with China. The U.S. experience against Iran also raises questions about U.S. plans to rely primarily on stand-off weapons to strike Chinese ships and military targets in an Indo-Pacific contingency. Although this strategy evolved as a response to China’s anti-access/air denial capabilities, which will make operating close to the mainland coast impossible, the war in Iran suggests that the stand-off approach may be limited in what it can accomplish.” (04/29/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-military-unprepared-war-china/
- Political Violence and the Willful Self-Deception of the Left [sic]
Source: Real Clear Politics
by John R Lott Jr.“Violence motivated by political differences has emerged as a defining, if alarming, feature of 21st -century American civil life. Neither side in our nation’s increasingly dangerous ideological divide has a monopoly. But one side, the Democratic Party and its allies, refuses to acknowledge the increase in mayhem from the left [sic]. This is true even in the face of the campus assassination of beloved conservative activist Charlie Kirk, or the very public attack against a televised banquet featuring the president of the United States in a ballroom room full of politicians and journalists. On Sunday, well after authorities released Cole Tomas Allen’s anti-Trump administration screed, former President Barack Obama posted on X that the attacker’s motive remained unclear. Actually, Allen’s writings made his radical leftist [sic] views perfectly clear, along with his rage against conservatives and President Trump himself.” (04/29/26)
- Trump’s War Is Damaging US Arms Exports to Allies
Source: Foreign Policy
by Elisabeth Braw“Estonia is some way from the Persian Gulf. Even so, it has vocally supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. That has done it no good, despite Trump’s railing against NATO allies for not joining his attack on Tehran: This month, the United States canceled military deliveries to the Baltic nation because it needed the weapons for the Iran war. Other allies are encountering similar delays. The United States has the legal right to suspend weapons deliveries — but such suspensions will hardly encourage nations to buy American.” [editor’s note: So what’s the down side? Retool those factories to produce things American consumers want. “Problem” solved – TLK] (04/29/26)
- Progressive groups: We don’t need the Democratic Party to cause a “blue wave”
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel“Eighteen months after losing everything, left-leaning activists and unions have a comeback in their sights. All they need is money, aggressive turnout of their 2024 voters, and a president who keeps screwing up on the cost of living. The Democratic Party could figure out its own problems later. That was the overwhelming sentiment at the annual summit of America Votes, founded 22 years ago to coordinate the electoral work of left-leaning unions and climate groups. … One of my questions heading into America Votes was how worried progressives were about the Trump administration looking for legal avenues to suppress their work. I detected surprisingly little concern about that over my two days at the conference. There was more short-term angst that Trump’s network would contest a GOP loss in the midterms, which everyone there expected.” (04/29/26)
- Toward correction that respects and redeems
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“A majority of Americans – two-thirds – feel that the nation’s corrections system does well on maintaining prison security, thus contributing to a sense of overall public safety. But only 16% believe that the system does a good job of rehabilitating incarcerated individuals. With 95% of these individuals rejoining society after serving an average of about three years, the likelihood of reoffending is concerning for families of those convicted, the communities to which they return, and local law enforcement and justice systems. In response, more than a dozen states have intensified efforts to reorient their correctional systems toward reformation and rehabilitation. Reforms range from providing more mentorship and educational access to the ambitious reconstruction of San Quentin State Prison in California and – on the East Coast – a statewide shift away from what the National Institute of Justice has described as ‘a command-and-control culture.'” (04/28/26)
- Unhealthy Kid Stuff
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Julian Shapiro-Barnum is the host and creator of Recess Therapy, where he regularly records conversations with kids. Recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) joined his program to discuss healthcare policy. … AOC and the youngsters shown think healthcare should be free, which The Post used as a jumping off point to have an adult conversation about government-run healthcare, specifically the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. … The Brits ‘have learned the hard way that the promise of ‘free’ care is only as good as their ability to get an appointment,’ wrote the editors. … ‘the belief that a full government takeover would lead to better outcomes is just childish.’ One of the nation’s largest newspapers appears to be growing up.” (04/29/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/04/29/unhealthy-kid-stuff/
- Obama gaffe about WHCD shooter just the latest in former president’s legacy of lies
Source: New York Post
by Isaac Schorr“Barack Obama’s tacky, hyperpartisan post-presidency is welcome insofar as it serves to remind the public of his tacky, hyperpartisan leadership style. ‘Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner …’ began Obama’s Sunday evening statement about the gunman who showed up in Washington the night before. Except by the time Obama got around to acknowledging the attack, the entire world knew why Cole Tomas Allen had attempted to storm the ballroom where President Trump and much of his administration were breaking bread with their ancestral enemies in the Fourth Estate.” [editor’s note: The entire world still doesn’t know that — it just knows what the regime has claimed about it. There’s a difference – TLK](04/28/26)
- The Case Against the “Free Bankers”
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen“With regard to the long-running debate between Rothbardians and modern free bankers, most prominently Lawrence White and George Selgin, the question is less a matter of technical disagreements than one regarding fundamentally divergent conceptions of money, law, and the nature of banking itself. At stake is not merely the historical interpretation of Scottish or British banking, but the deeper question of whether fractional-reserve banking can ever be reconciled with a genuinely free and non-fraudulent market order. … As Rothbard illustrated in his comprehensive review of White’s book at the time, the narrative advanced by White rests on two claims that can be shown to be false: first, that Scottish banking operated as a genuinely free system, independent of central banking influence; and second, that this system exhibited superior stability and performance. Both propositions collapse under closer scrutiny.” (04/29/26)
- Our Rulers Take So Very Much And Give Us So Very Little
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Sure plutocrats are killing our biosphere, but hey, at least they’re creating technology that lets you avoid the cognitive discomfort of writing your own words and thinking your own thoughts. Sure the empire is butchering human beings at horrifying scale around the world, but on the bright side it’s creating refugees who will move to your country and bring you treats that you can order from an app on your phone. Sure imperialist extraction is robbing the resources and exploiting the workers of the global south at extortionate fees, but on the other hand you get to wear a new outfit every day because the clothes you ordered online are dirt cheap thanks to transcontinental slave labor.” (04/30/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/04/30/our-rulers-take-so-very-much-and-give-us-so-very-little/
- Europe’s Shrinking Feeling
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott“Europe’s current situation cannot be attributed entirely to events in the Middle East, either: while these have acted as a catalyst, they have exposed underlying problems with the European Union’s energy policies, and the disjointed nature of the member nations’ own energy sectors. The green transition, spearheaded by the European Green Deal and pursued with regulatory intensity and considerable haste, systematically dismantled the continent’s baseload capacity for energy provision and production long before replacement infrastructure was ready.” (04/29/26)
- What Should Post-Communist Cuban Schools Do?
Source: Independent Institute
by Williamson M Evers“What should education in Cuba look like after Communism? Assuming a decisive break with Communism — as happened, for example, in the Baltic States, Czech Republic, and Poland — the country will need to replace nationalization with pluralism, ill-advised pedagogy with scientific methods, and indoctrination with liberalization.” (04/29/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/29/what-should-post-communist-cuban-schools-do/
- Violent Rhetoric Is a Bipartisan Problem — And So Is the Resulting Hypocrisy
Source: The Dispatch
by Jonah Goldberg“[F]or two decades now, it seems that whenever political violence erupts, there’s a moment where partisans wait to learn the motives of the perpetrator so they can start blaming the other side for inciting it. Sometimes they don’t even wait. … American politics right now are almost defined by outgroup homogeneity. Many Democrats and progressives think all Republicans and conservatives are alike, and vice versa. That would be bad enough, but the problem is compounded by the fact that each side tends to think the consensus on the other side is defined by their worst actors and spokespeople.” (04/29/26)
- Hungary’s Opposition Used Social Media to Topple the Authoritarian-in-Chief
Source: The UnPopulist
by Jacob Mchangama“Politically neutral platforms are a better way than censorship to fight propaganda and disinformation.” (04/29/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/hungarys-opposition-used-social-media
- Peer Review Is Broken — Here’s How to Fix It
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Rob Jenkins & Michael R Jenkins“ithin academia, there seems to be a growing consensus that the peer-review system — once the backbone of academic scholarship — is broken. But is it irreparably so? Perhaps. At the very least, the breakdown of its current form is worth exploring. However, rather than abandoning the entire endeavor, we believe we have a novel solution. First, though, let us examine where the system went wrong.” (04/29/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/peer-review-is-broken-heres-how-to-fix-it/
- Government Shouldn’t Be Important Enough To Fight Over
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille“Government shouldn’t be important enough to motivate people to kill others to gain control. Moreover, people willing to engage in violence to seize the means of governance have no business exercising political power. These are points we should be drumming home after the latest in a series of assassination attempts against President Donald Trump and other administration officials at a time of surging political violence in the United States.” (04/29/26)
https://reason.com/2026/04/29/government-shouldnt-be-important-enough-to-fight-over/
- Congress Must End FISA Section 702
Source: Antiwar.com
by Jordan Liz“Section 702 was added to FISA in 2008 with a provision that requires Congress to periodically reauthorize it. The measure allows national security agencies like the NSA, FBI and CIA to collect and monitor – without a warrant – any electronic communications sent to and from non-US persons ‘reasonably believed to be located’ outside the US. Notably, Americans who send messages to people abroad may likewise have their data surveilled. Law enforcement agencies have consistently abused this loophole to spy on US citizens in clear violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.” (04/29/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/jordan_liz/2026/04/28/congress-must-end-fisa-section-702/
- Understanding the Link Between Capitalism [sic] and War
Source: Common Dreams
by Klaus Moegling“Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels taught us that capitalism is a system primarily characterized by private control over the means of production. In other words: Factories and banks are privately owned. Business decisions are guided by whether they generate surplus value that can be appropriated as profit by the owners. Workers become a commodity, one that must, however, market itself and generate exchange value. In this context, the state’s primary role is to safeguard these relations of production and balance the interests of the various factions of capital. In doing so, the construction of neoliberal ideologies sought to minimize state benefits for the poorer strata of society, destroy the protective mechanisms of poorer societies, and simultaneously transfer state resources to capitalist oligarchies. Those who demanded the elimination of subsidies were, in fact, the very ones who benefited from them.” (04/29/26)
- Religious Freedom Before Locke
Source: Law & Liberty
by Alexander William Salter“John Locke’s A Letter Concerning Toleration is widely regarded as a foundational text of religious liberty. For centuries, thinkers have praised its clarity, moral confidence, and rejection of the coercive religious politics that prevailed in early modern Europe. On the surface, Locke offers a simple and powerful claim: the state has no authority over the salvation of souls, and therefore it ought not to coerce religious belief or practice. But this framing, so often viewed as self-evident, rests on claims that are highly contestable.” (04/29/26)
- The Political Orphanage, 04/29/26
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Hahaha! Warrant? What Warrant?!” (04/29/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/hahaha-warrant-what-warrant
- Instant Grace with Jim Babka, episode 49
Source: Gracearchy with Jim Babka
“The Second Reason It’s Wrong To Shoot The President.” (04/29/26)
- The Daily, 04/29/26
Source: New York Times
“Why Even Some Democrats Hate California’s Billionaire Tax Proposal.” (04/29/26)
- Command Post, 04/29/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Hegseth’s Takeover of Military Newspaper (w/ Jacqueline Smith).” (04/29/26)
- Reason Interview: Andy Serkis
Source: Reason
“What Orwell Understood About Tyranny.” (04/29/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/04/29/andy-serkis-what-orwell-understood-about-tyranny/
- The David Frum Show, 04/29/26
Source: The Atlantic
“Who Is the Real Base of the Democratic Party?” (04/29/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/04/-democratic-party-base/686988/
- Rising, 04/29/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on a poll showing that nearly half of Democrats believe the 2024 Trump assassination attempt was staged to garner support for him.” (04/29/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 04/29/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Trump Orders ‘Extended Blockade’ — Will Iran Shoot First?” (04/29/26)
- Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 04/29/26
Source: Politico
“Pete Hegseth in the hot seat, the latest Fed drama, and King Charles goes to NYC.” (04/29/26)
- Fountainhead Forum, episode 441
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Manuel Garcia on Javier Milei’s rise and Mexico’s new ‘socialized medicine.'” (04/29/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 04/29/26
Source: The New Republic
“Krugman: Trump Accidentally Screwed Himself on Iran Very, Very Badly.” (04/29/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/209625/krugman-trump-accidentally-screwed-iran-very-badly
- Reasonably Optimistic, 04/29/26
Source: Washington Post
“Host Megan McArdle is joined by economist and demographer Lyman Stone to discuss what’s really driving the decline in birth rates — from delayed marriage to cultural shifts and rising anxiety about the future.” (04/29/26)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/impromptu/why-americans-arent-having-as-many-kids/
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 04/29/26
Source: The Dispatch
“The Uses of Marxism | Interview: Tyler Austin Harper.” (04/29/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/the-uses-of-marxism-interview-tyler-austin-harper/
- The Libertarian Angle, 04/29/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“A Socialist Takeover of Spirit Airlines?” (04/29/26)